Exclusive: Outer Spaces launches with $8M for backyard solar and batteries

Exclusive: Outer Spaces launches with $8M for backyard solar and batteries

Outer Spaces, a startup developing outdoor furnishings embedded with solar and batteries, launched with $8 million in pre-seed funding, CEO Jiake Liu tells Axios Pro exclusively.

Why it matters: As the costs of solar panels and batteries drop, the tech is being designed into new products for home owners.

Zoom in: Upfront Ventures led the round, joined by Unlock Venture Partners, Mucker Capital, and Genius Ventures.

  • Outer Spaces emerged from sister company Outer, a backyard furnishings brand from the same co-founders, which has generated hundreds of millions in sales from its products.
  • Outer Spaces' co-founder and chief design officer is Terry Lin.

    • How it works: The company's products are prefabricated, and the equivalent of "a huge Lego kit," taking two people about five hours on average to build, says Liu.

  • Its solar and battery products can also be connected to a home and used as backup storage and power.
  • Outer Spaces' first product, called the OS1, can be configured in a few ways including an outdoor sauna, a gym and an office, and it has batteries and solar panels built into it.
  • The batteries are embedded in the flooring, and the solar panels are installed into the roofing space.

    • What they're saying: The secret to any home renovation is that labor costs are usually more than half of the entire project cost, says Liu. The homeowner is paying one-time labor costs that are not building equity.

  • This "is a huge problem that's stopping more people from adopting solar and energy," says Liu.

    • The big picture: Rooftop solar panel systems are seeing slowing growth in the U.S. due to removed federal support.

  • Solar soft-costs — like sales, installation labor, permitting and financing — remain high.
  • Residential solar customer acquisition costs are expected to jump by 40% in 2026 partly due to the lost tax credits.
  • At the same time, states are passing laws to enable companies to sell "plug-and-play" or "balcony solar," which are solar units that can bought, installed and used without a lengthy utility permitting process.

    • What's next: Outer Spaces plans to start shipping its first products in the summer of 2027.

  • Down the road, the startup has ambitions to develop a virtual power plant with connected solar and battery customers.